Specialisterne is now a global foundation and has worked with clients in Australia such as Westpac, where eight autistic employees have been placed last year across three Sydney sites in roles including risk, finance and IT.

Specialisterne has also placed persons on the autism spectrum to work at SAP, the Department of Health and Human Services (Victoria), and the Australian Government Department of Human Services in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra.

‘We just need organisations to be brave enough to take a step in the New Zealand space and say, ‘work with us’ and we will work with them every step of the way.”

She says they are also talking to the state sector, as the government is a big employer of IT talent. “We hope they will lead from the front.”

Employers that do not proactively offer technologies, environments and practices to promote full participation of people with disabilities will not only miss out on a rich and untapped labour pool, they will also risk losing ‘employer-of-choice’ status: Gartner

She says another area that is a really good fit for autistic talent is in agriculture.

“Many autistic people are noted for their attention to detail and good record keeping, as well as having an affinity with animals,” she says. These skills are important in the livestock industry.

We have a huge agriculture industry in New Zealand, notes Trezona. “If you are able to track your product from farm to supermarket, you need really good records to say that animal was in this sort of health on the day it was slaughtered.”

“If there is any query, you can say my team has kept such good records and there was no problem with it when it was on my farm.”

She cites SunPork Farms in Australia which has started the Autism and Agriculture initiative with Autism CRC and Specialisterne Australia. The project aims to improve animal welfare by creating opportunities in animal care for adults on the autism spectrum.

Working with Specialisterne Australia, nine autistic adults in South Australia and seven in Queensland were employed within SunPork Farms during the pilot programme. The candidates received mentoring and workplace support to work in the agricultural industry.

“In the teams where I have people with autism, the communication is a lot better, it’s more inclusive, and with that a lot more impactful, less stress and more innovation,” says Wittenberg.

In the teams where I have people with autism, the communication is a lot better, more inclusive, more impactful

Anka Wittenberg, SAP

She explains a person with autism usually doesn’t learn to understand sarcasm or what’s said between the lines. “This has helped us to create a corporate culture that’s opening up for the individual’s needs,” she says.

“The language has changed in the teams, the way they communicate. They are not using sarcasm any more. And guess what, it also helps me if I have people from very different backgrounds working together."

Adrian Coysh, Auckland partner at JobCafe, knows the challenges organisations face as they work to integrate persons with autism and other differently-abled staff into the workforce.

“Disability is viewed as the ‘hardest’ of the diversity spectrum to solve or even interact with, and the resultant outcome for many businesses has been to do nothing,” he points out.

“Pretty much, most businesses just pick lower hanging fruit, and disability just gets ignored,” he says.

He says it is estimated that only 16 per cent of people are born with their disability, which means that the majority of people have illnesses, accidents or genetic conditions which they encounter during their lives, which might require a change in employment if they are unable to continue in their previous job.

Catherine Trezona, national manager at Altogether Autism: “Everybody benefits because everybody wants the small changes that employers make to ensure their workplace is autism friendly...Everybody wants clear instructions, systems that make sense, and support for the work they are trying to do.”

“This has ramifications for employers as well, because the rate of disability increases with age and we are all statistically living and working longer, which means that disabilities that previously mostly occurred in retirement are now affecting people still in employment.” says Coysh.

He says some of the things HR professionals in these organisations can do is to understand the lives of disabled people better.

“Assist and support your disabled staff and your employees caring for their family members who are disabled. They may live with constant stress (including financial), and may have more doctor's appointments,” he says.

Companies can also provide internships and part-time work for school and university leavers.

“This provides valuable work experience, as well as income. Often, graduates looking for their first career move have CVs with little or no work experience, which can immediately further disadvantage them against non-disabled graduates.”

As he points out, New Zealand is missing out on the skills and capabilities of a hidden talent pool of disabled people.

“Business has been slow to understand that employing more disabled staff allows them to be more attuned to the needs of the disability community, reach a wider market, and attract another talent pool with new skills and perspectives,” he says.

By being more inclusive, solutions developers can create smarter systems that attract and cater for all

Tony Cutting, JobCafe

Some employers already get this and see that this hidden talent pool can fill their recruitment needs and skill shortages, he adds. “This is also helping them to prepare for an ageing population and the changes that will occur within their workplace.”

Tony Cutting, founder and partner at JobCafe and talent management consultant, talks further about diversity and its impact on the enterprise.

“We know that more Maori and Pasifika input into our technology will significantly help in the development of systems that consider the wider population, as would inclusion of other diversity groups,” he says.

The same is true with hiring people with disabilities, many of whom have the ability and drive to be great IT professionals, he says. “By being more inclusive, solutions developers can create smarter systems that attract and cater for all.”

“In all sectors of the population there are people with talent, ideas, abilities to contribute; but to attract them, you need to commit to building teams who understand diversity and work well together and understand the benefits you get when you are inclusive of everyone’s culture, customs, protocols and abilities."

‘Employer of choice’

Gartner notes how the current focus on workplace diversity is widening from being centered on gender and ethnicity.

As people with disabilities become able to perform any job, employers will come to include people traditionally left on the margins, says Gartner in its report From Disability to Superability, Society and the Workplace Are Changing.

“People with disabilities, who were traditionally shut out of some jobs, are using the same technologies that made the digital workforce possible to erase boundaries.”

“The gig economy and flexible work arrangements create new opportunities for people with disabilities, who may need or prefer to primarily work from home or to unconventional or sporadic schedules,” says Gartner.

Gartner says younger workers, including millennials and those from generations Y and Z, have expectations of equal opportunities for people of all abilities.

“Employers that do not proactively offer technologies, environments and practices to promote full participation of people with disabilities will not only miss out on a rich and untapped labour pool, they will also risk losing ‘employer-of-choice’ status,” says Gartner.

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